Darkblade Systems is among the most recent graduates of the U.S. Small Business Owners cohort at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Intensive Entrepreneurship Training at Babson College. This National program helps entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity.

One hundred and forty-eight entrepreneurs from 36 states, Washington D.C, and Puerto Rico graduated in Fall of 2016 from the Babson Cohort of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, a national program created to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing greater access to education, capital, and business support services. The graduates of the program this spring completed the blended online and face-to-face program that delivers intensive entrepreneurship training and practical training from Babson’s business experts and peers, alongside educational teams who teach the 10,000 Small Businesses program at community colleges across the country.

The small businesses in this group represent a total of $247M in revenues and over 3,000 jobs from a broad range of industries in manufacturing, construction, retail, services and non-profit organizations. The graduates join over 700 businesses reached through the Babson cohort and over 7,200 businesses served through the program across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and UK.

“We’re proud of our graduates of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative. These entrepreneurs put forth incredible effort to complete this program and we are confident their efforts will continue in growing their businesses. We are excited to watch their many successes,” said Kerry Healey, President of Babson College.

Babson has been partnering with Goldman Sachs and others on the 10,000 Small Businesses program since 2010, and has helped train over 250 faculty and staff who deliver the program primarily at community colleges throughout the United States, as well as through the national blended learning program at Babson College. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is an investment to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing access to education, capital and business support services.

Starting in September, for 11 weeks, these small business owners connected with peers and worked together through practical business education delivered through a blend of online and in-person sessions.

“The program is designed to be highly participative, focusing on peer and experiential types of learning – just Babson’s style,” said Babson Professor Patricia Greene, National Academic Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and 10,000 Women. “These business owners represent the best of the U.S. economy, growing their businesses, including creating new jobs, in order to continue to strengthen our communities. Nearly 70% of participants increase revenues and 50% create new jobs just six months after graduating.”

10,000 Small Businesses offers qualified business owners:

Guidance in creating a customized growth plan that includes opportunity identification and feasibility analysis, financial management, leadership, negotiations, and marketing.

One-on-one business counseling and a network of peer support from other small business owners, as well as leaders in the business world.

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that greater access to this combination of education, capital and support services best addresses barriers to growth for small businesses. 10,000 Small Businesses is guided by an Advisory Council on which Babson President Kerry Healey serves and is co-chaired by Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, Bloomberg L.P. founder, president and CEO, and 108th Mayor of the City of New York Michael R. Bloomberg, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City’s Dr. Michael Porter. The National Urban League and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are also represented on the Advisory Council, among other groups.

To apply for the 10,000 Small Businesses business and management education program, please visit www.10KSBapply.com.

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.